London, Aug 9 (IANS): When rioters struck at an upmarket restaurant here, they met with unexpected resistance from the staff who ran out with "rolling pins, fry baskets, and other dangerous kitchen tools and scared off the looters".

The diners at The Ledbury, an upmarket restaurant in Notting Hill, London, saw staff jumping to their protection.

The rioters had entered the two-star restaurant and begun demanding that diners hand over their wallets and wedding rings.

Undaunted, the staff fought back with kitchen tools. They then led the customers into the wine cellar for protection.

A tourist wrote about the incident in his blog.

"Around the fourth dish of the tasting course, there were loud bangs outside... The looters were yelling at us to get down and throwing stuff all over the place."

The blogger added: "The kitchen staff at the Ledbury went beyond their call of duty by rushing up from the kitchen with rolling pins, fry baskets, and other dangerous kitchen tools and scared off the looters.

"Then they provided well-needed glasses of alcohol including champagne and whisky. When word came that the looters were coming back a second time, they ushered us into the bathrooms and told us to lock the doors. A few minutes later, they led us into the wine cellar and told us to lock ourselves in there."

Rioters have paralysed London for the past three days.

London witnessed a third night of violence as the unrest spread to other cities. Protesters were seen destroying and looting shops, setting cars and buildings alight and engaging in clashes with police.

Violence began in the British capital's northern district of Tottenham Saturday over the fatal shooting of a man by police.

Some 300 people gathered outside a police station in Tottenham Saturday night to demand "justice" after 29-year-old cab driver and alleged drug dealer Mark Duggan was killed in Thursday's shootout with police.